Living Subversively

Ed Stetzer post excerpts:  An interview with Trevin Wax:  Holy Subversion 

Trevin Wax, has written a helpful book that's generating a lot of good discussion. I'm happy to have Trevin on the blog today, answering a few questions about his book, Holy Subversion. It's a great book that challenges us all to live a distinctly Christian life, one that is truly subversive. After you read the interview, stick around to talk with Trevin. He'll be hanging around the blog today to interact with us all.
 
What does it mean to live "subversively" for Christ?
To subvert means to put something back in its proper place. As Christians, we are called to live according to the lordship of Jesus Christ.

To live subversively for Jesus means that our lives should undermine the other loyalties vying for primacy. Many times, these other loyalties are not bad in and of themselves. Money, sex, recreation, power, etc... these are all good gifts from God. But we humans have the tendency to take God's good gifts and invest them with ultimate significance. When we begin living for money, sex, recreation, success, etc... these gifts become idols that enslave us and rob God of his glory.

To live subversively for Christ means that we as Christians will identify the prevailing idolatries of our culture and then deliberately subvert those idolatries by the way we live.

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You spend a chapter contrasting a worldly understanding of Success with a biblical understanding of success. How should church leaders redefine "success" according to the Scriptures?
It's sad to see so many people come to church who are still formed by the patterns of this world. And yet, we shouldn't be surprised to see people living according to the world's definition of success in their respective vocations if we as pastors and leaders have adopted the world's definition of success for ourselves as well.

For many pastors, success is equated with numbers. If you're successful, you're growing. Numbers tell the story. Well, numbers may indeed be an indicator of success. But they can be misleading as well. You may have unhealthy churches growing by attracting other church members, not reaching the lost. And you can have unhealthy churches that use a declining number as "proof" of their faithfulness, when actually, they might just be unwilling to make any adjustments.

So numbers tell a story, but they don't determine success. Biblically speaking, faithfulness is success. God calls us to be faithful, to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit, and to trust him for the results. When we do this, we're successful. Regardless of the outcome, we've been obedient.

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